A Woman's Strength
by Leafdiaries
Summary: Kouchou x Shuuei, and a few made-up characters. Written for Saiun Challenge prompt "White skin, red lips" and Saiunkoku Fic Prompt-How Kouchou became a prostitute. Fairly mild M.
1. The Courtesan

"Kouchou, you have the most beautiful skin," Shuuei whispered against the back of her neck as he drew her silk shawl from her creamy shoulders. "You glow like moonlight."

"Ah, Shogun-sama, perhaps you see the shimmer of desire your touch arouses in me," she answered, and her voice poured over him like warm honey. She turned her face, and he leaned over her shoulder to press his lips to her mouth.

"Heh, Kouchou, I think these lips are what make you most enticing," he muttered, sweeping his grinning lips against hers.

"Oh? You've thought much about this, Ran-sama?" she teased with a soft laugh and the flicker of her tongue between his lips.

"Endlessly," he murmured and captured her teasing tongue in his mouth. He turned her and gathered her in his arms, deepening his kiss. His rough fingers moved tenderly over her back, drawing her dress down to her waist. Her head arched back, breaking the kiss, for a deep, heated gasp. The motion thrust her ample, naked breasts firmly against his hard chest. "You feel like silk in my hands, Kouchou, soft, cool at first, and then warming to my touch."

"It can't be helped when you hold me like this," she whispered and caressed her cheek against his. "When a man with the strong hands of a shogun…" she whispered warmly at his ear and felt him shiver slightly, "…can hold a woman so gently…" she breathed her spell against his mouth, "…coaxing what he could easily _take_…" her voice trembled at the last word and she pressed herself tightly against him, "…rough fingers that should bruise…" she whimpered, "…but slowly stir a fiery radiance in my body…Shogun-sama…Shogun-sama…"

The high-pitched plea in her voice unraveled him completely and he took her there on the floor of her veranda, under the moonlight. As he drove into her, quaking with the urgency she had stirred inside him, he kissed her so deeply, so long, so often, that she barely had time to catch her breath.

"These lips," he muttered nearly incoherently. "Your words, your thoughts, your taste, your lips…Kouchou, sweet, beautiful Kouchou, your lips are magic."

"Ah, Ran-sama," she panted and beamed up at him. "What man praises a woman for her thoughts? You are a most special lover, and so I will show you what other magic my lips can do."

"Kouchou…" his eyes widened, and she felt his reaction inside her. She giggled softly. "Lay back, Ran-sama, and let my lips speak to your body."

She tangled her elegant fingers in his long, black hair and kissed him deeply before rolling him over and bathing his body in lingering kisses and licks. When she took him in her mouth, he arched up, taut as a bow string, and clutched at the carpet under his hands until it crumpled in his fists.

Before long, he stroked his hands desperately over her black-cherry hair, and stammered in a choked voice, "K-Kou-chou…I…I can't…your mouth…"

"Yes…yes…Ran-sama…" she gasped and her hungry lips left him no choice but to release and flow into her, lost in the soft, sultry heat of her mouth.

Spent and sated as he had never been before, he still managed to draw Kouchou up onto his heaving chest and wrap her in his discarded robe and his quivering arms. He tipped her chin up and drew his thumb over her reddened lips. He leaned up to kiss her, but she drew her mouth away.

"Ran-sama, your…taste…"

"You honor me, sweet Kouchou," he whispered and lifted her mouth to his. He kissed her hesitantly at first and then parted her lips for his tantalizing tongue. Heat surged through her body, and she ravished his mouth all over again until she felt him harden beneath her.

"Eh, do you have any other appointments tonight?" he smiled at her sheepishly.

"They've strangely all canceled," she smirked and her gaze swept down to his grinning mouth.

Shuuei laughed so deeply, he rocked Kouchou on his chest and she snuggled tightly against him. A wide smile tugged her lips. "It's a pity, though. Such a loss to my business," she teased.

"I'll make it up to you," he murmured suggestively and spun her onto her back. "In every way I can. I wouldn't want my lady to starve or be out in the cold."

"Shogun-sama is always so generous," she wriggled gleefully beneath him, making him laugh again.

"I'm smitten with you, Kouchou. I'm at your mercy. Have I told you that I'm in love with you?" he moaned and buried his mouth in the curve of her neck, causing her to giggle and writhe against him as he settled himself between her thighs.

"Yes, Ran-sama, many times and in many ways," she sighed and arched into him.


	2. The HandMaid

"Kouchou-chan, Kouchou-chan! Come away from the window and help me with my hair," came the call of a gentle voice from the next room.

"Coming, Ojou-sama," Kouchou called back and took one last look at the children on the street outside, playing in the canal, splashing water on each other. Kouchou adjusted the hot collar of her plain, dark robe and dabbed the back of her hand at her sweaty neck. If Ojou-sama saw her sweating, she would surely be reprimanded. She quickly made herself presentable and glided into her lady's room and bowed.

"Please brush my hair, Kouchou-chan," the imperious lady instructed with a nod to the young girl at her side. "One hundred strokes, and be very careful not to break a strand."

"Yes, Ojou-sama," Kouchou nodded and took up the silver brush and began to apply smooth strokes to the woman's long, shiny black tresses. "Will Ojou-sama have a special guest tonight?"

"Yes, child, a very special guest," the woman smiled into the mirror before her and lowered her eyes out of habit. "Shall I tell you a secret, Kouchou?"

The woman spun on her gilded bench and took Kouchou's hands in hers, making the young girl's eyes widen with surprise. "The shogun is coming tonight to take me away," the woman whispered urgently. "We're to be married! He says I am no longer to be a courtesan to any but him. I am to be the lady of his house and his heart! Is that not wonderful, Kouchou-chan!"

"Oh, Ojou-sama!" Kouchou exclaimed as quietly as she could.

"Shhh, no one must know until tonight," the lady hissed, with a finger to her lips. She smiled broadly and hugged Kouchou. "Oh, Kouchou, I wish you could come with me. You have been such a good girl." The woman stroked Kouchou's hair back from her face and hugged her warmly again. "I knew from the moment your mother brought you here that you would be special and you've grown into a lovely young girl. I will miss you so much. It is my only regret in leaving."

Kouchou dared to tighten her arms around the woman who held her, the woman who had cared for her for the three years she had lived at the Lotus Blossom brothel as a hand-maid. When her mother had brought her to the brothel when she was only nine, she had told Kouchou that she would now be able to earn her keep, to always be fed and clothed, as her mother could not do for her. That was the last time Kouchou cried until now.

"Here, here, Kouchou, naughty girl," the lady drew back and stroked a silken handkerchief over the girl's cheeks, smiling warmly at her, her own eyes welling. "You mustn't ever cry real tears. They make your face a disgrace and men don't like that. There now, that's better."

The lady slid over on her seat and patted the cushion next to her. "Sit here. We'll hide your tears behind a pretty mask so no one will know." For the next few minutes, the lady dabbed every sort of powder and paint on Kouchou's face, making the girl giggle demurely as she had been taught.

"Always remember, Kouchou-chan," the woman told her in a sweet and playful voice, "White skin, red lips, hint of bosom, sway of hips. That is how to win a master of your own, like the shogun."

Kouchou nodded and smiled a twisted grin when the woman tweaked her nose and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She drew back from the girl, dabbed her lips with paint and showed her how to blot her lips together.

"There, Kouchou-chan…look," the woman beamed proudly and turned Kouchou's chin toward the mirror. The face that gleamed in the glass next to the lady's was a face Kouchou didn't recognize. She was breathless at its beauty. The woman stroked the back of her head and hugged her.

"Some day, you will be number one, Kouchou, just like me," she stated softly. "Straighten your shoulders, little princess. One day, you'll command the hearts of men and rule them with a lift of your brow and the crook of your small finger. You will control your own destiny as no other woman can."

Kouchou's eyes widened and her mouth slacked open as she watched the woman next to her in the mirror sit taller, her chin lifted, her eyes shining. She looked like a queen, an angel, glowing like the sun. Compared with the last image Kouchou had of her mother—haggard, worn with worry and work, rail thin, dark, blotched skin, cracked hands and lips—this woman presented a much more glorious future for the young girl.

Even at only 12 years old, Kouchou understood the price to be paid for such a life. She was vaguely aware of how her lady and the other ladies in the house earned their keep. She had even been approached by a few guests, but the house mother ran them off and told them not to come back until Kouchou was of age. The young girl looked down at her smallish breasts compared to the lady sitting next to her and realized that she still had some growing to do to compete with even the lower level ladies, let alone the number one courtesan in the country.

"I wish such a life of freedom for you, so you must promise me to work hard, study hard, practice hard. The price of your freedom is sacrifice and discipline," the lady stated, applying a dab of cream to the back of Kouchou's hand and then to her own. Kouchou copied her as she rubbed the sweet-smelling ointment into her skin. "So no matter how much you want to go outside and play with the other children," the woman glanced at her sidelong and smirked, "remember to stay out of the sun. Why?"

"Um…" Kouchou pressed her finger to her chin thoughtfully. "White skin…!" she blurted excitedly.

"Good girl!" the lady clapped her hands in approval. "White skin, red lips, hint of bosom, sway of hips," she chanted as she tickled the girl at her side, who writhed and giggled gleefully. "Now, come along and brush my hair. I want to be perfect. Tonight, I will make my shogun beg to make my dreams come true. Such is the power of a woman."


	3. The Ingenue

By the time night fell, the lady stood before her floor-length mirror, her hair bedecked in jewels, her face a portrait of angelic beauty—dark eyes, porcelain skin, ruby lips that shimmered under the glowing lamplight. Her robes draped around her shoulders, dipping suggestively at her breasts, and flowed out over the floor. The scent of roses wafted around her as she turned smoothly before the mirror.

"Well, Kouchou, I think I'm nearly ready," she smiled demurely so as not to crease her makeup. "Will you go and wait for the shogun? I have a few preparations left, so I will ring when I'm ready to receive him."

"Yes, Ojou-sama," Kouchou bowed and as elegantly as she could manage with her knobby knees, she swept out of the room and down the hall to the sitting room. To her surprise, a tall, broad-shouldered and handsome man in a soldier's uniform already waited. It was her lady's shogun. When he saw Kouchou, he grinned broadly and beckoned her to enter. He bent down on one knee to offer her a sweet, a practice that had come to be expected between them.

"Kouchou-chan!" he exclaimed when he looked at her painted face. "It is Kouchou-chan?"

The girl smiled sweetly and bowed her head.

"Hmm…perhaps it's Kouchou-sama now? You've grown up since I last saw you," he observed and brushed his fingers over her cheek. He took her hand and leaned back from her. "Let's have a look at you," he glanced over her and Kouchou's cheeks reddened. "You're even lovelier than your mistress."

"Thank you, sir, though my mistress is lovelier by far," she stated.

"Oh-ho! Mind of your own, eh? That's a naughty girl to argue with the guests. Shall I tell the house mother on you?"

"Please, sir, no. Please accept this girl's deepest apologies," Kouchou bowed low before him and her long hair cascaded over his hand as it held hers.

"I'm only teasing. You are a loyal girl to your lady. I'll be sure to tell her how you defended her," he lifted Kouchou's chin and smiled gently at her. "But my feelings are hurt. I'm a proud soldier, you know, so I don't accept being told off by a little girl. You must make amends or I won't bring you sweets anymore."

"Master need not bring sweets again, but this girl is deeply sorry for her rudeness," she bowed again. She remained abased before him for an awkwardly long time since he had not spoken.

"Kouchou-sama, lift up your face," he said quietly then and she complied, though she kept her eyes lowered as she had been taught. "I will forgive you if you kiss me." Now her eyes lifted to his.

"Y-You are my lady's master," she muttered, her face turning red and her stomach twisting into a knot.

"And, therefore, your master as well, am I not?" he stated firmly and stroked his thumb over her red-lacquered bottom lip that trembled at his touch. She didn't answer.

"You're a headstrong girl, Kouchou. You need a firm master to take you in hand before you grow into a shrew. These ladies spoil you too much because you're so sweet. Ah, I guess it can't be helped." His large, rough hand snaked around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Kouchou whimpered and jammed her hands against his massive shoulders. He might as well have been a boulder she was trying to push uphill. He laughed as she struggled against him.

"You have so much to learn, little Kouchou-chan," he murmured in a deep, dark voice. "Don't you know that the more you fight me, the more you make me want to conquer you? Not just that little body, but the fiery spirit inside it."

Instantly, she stopped moving, again making him laugh, though she couldn't understand what could be funny in this situation. Perhaps he was only teasing her. He liked to tease her, but he had never done more than pinch her cheek before. Now his hands framed her hips, his fingers stretching out over her backside, and his mouth hovered very near hers. He smelled of tobacco and sake and soap and leather. She thought she might be growing ill from his touch because her stomach knotted and her body filled with heat. She could feel sweat rolling down her back and she couldn't quite catch her breath.

"Look here, Kouchou," he muttered and raised his eyebrows, grinning at her with satisfaction. "Your body knows who its master is." She followed the direction of his glance to the spot where her nipple protruded against her tightly bound robe. She gasped in horror and tried to back away but his hands held her in place and even drew her closer. "Let me see," he whispered. "Open your robe."

"No!" she exclaimed, trying to mute her voice, afraid someone would come and catch her like this. How could she explain? What was wrong with her body?

"Kouchou, you're being a naughty girl," he chastised her. "You only say no to me. What sort of courtesan will you be if you say no to your guests?"

"You're not my guest," she pointed out. "My lady…my lady will call for you soon."

"Ah, yes. You know I love her very much," he commented and released Kouchou. "She's very beautiful, smart, talented. She never says no to me. Never argues with me. Not like you."

"She loves you very much too," Kouchou added earnestly, relieved that he had finally come to his senses.

"I love her so much, Kouchou, that I thought I might marry her," he sighed wistfully, staring off into space. "But then, I don't know how many men have lain with her, tasted her, filled her. As I said, I'm a proud soldier. I thought...I thought I could live with it to have her to myself."

"Master…" she muttered, seeing the cold look on his face.

"You're a virgin, aren't you, Kouchou-chan?" he turned back to her and smiled softly. "Am I the first man to make your body respond like this?" he reached out and stroked his fingers gently over her breast, enflaming her nipple all over again. She gasped and stumbled backward, falling on her rear and throwing her arms across her chest protectively. "I see," he smirked.

"Don't be afraid, little one. I'm not a monster," he sat casually beside her on the floor, leaning his broad back against the divan behind them and crossing his long, outstretched legs, his riding boots gleaming under the lamplight. She tried to get up and leave, but his hand caught her wrist and stopped her. "Were you not instructed to wait for the bell as usual?" he asked firmly. "You've never tried to run away before. In fact, I think you have a crush on me, is that not so?"

"No! I…I hate you!" she exclaimed and tried to jerk her wrist out of his grip. Instead, he pulled her down across his lap.

"Now see what you've done," he chuckled at her. "See what comes of defying your master? Oh, and you shouldn't wriggle around too much on my lap unless you mean to take responsibility."

She froze and glared up at him.

"Do you even know what I'm talking about? Of course you don't," he laughed again and pinched her nose.

Just then, the bell in the sitting room tinkled lightly.


	4. The Victim

"Ah, there's my lady now," he sighed. "All right then, run along and tell her I'm impatient for her," he jerked his head in the direction of the private rooms. "You've got me all worked up now, so I'll have to take it out on your mistress's beautiful body since you only know how to say no to me." She started to scramble off him, but he still held her wrist. She stared at him warily, and then his smile faded.

"Before you go, I still want that kiss," he said quietly.

"I won't," she tugged her arm, but he held her tight.

"Then I'll leave and break your lady's heart as you're breaking mine," he stated plainly. Her eyes widened. The bell tinkled again.

"Apparently, my lady is as impatient for me as I am for your kiss," he leaned forward and pulled her toward him. "Just a little kiss, Kouchou. A secret between us."

"But, my lady…" she whimpered and trembled.

"On the cheek, then?" he turned his face. "Just a kiss on the cheek to show we're still friends and you still like me."

She swallowed the dry lump in her throat and looked at his rough, but handsome face, turned and waiting expectantly. The bell tinkled again, this time for a few seconds longer than before.

"Hurry up now. You're keeping everyone waiting," he admonished her.

With panic surging in her blood, she clenched her eyes shut and stooped down quickly to kiss his cheek. However, her lips landed on his when he turned at the last second, and she snapped open her eyes as one of his hands cupped the back of her head and held her firmly against his moving mouth. His other hand wound around her waist again and he pulled her down against him. She squealed against his mouth as he pried her lips open and snaked his tongue against hers. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't pull away. He was too strong, too forceful.

When the hand around her waist stole up to cover her breast, fury took over her body and she began to pummel him with every bit of her energy. He laughed into her mouth and clutched her breast in a bruising grip, making her wince. The bell on the wall rattled noisily. Suddenly, in a rage she had never felt before, she bit down as hard as she could on his tongue and bottom lip. He howled and threw her to the floor.

Kouchou rushed for the door, but he beat her to it and grabbed her again, lifting her up and pinning her back to the door, so his mouth was at her breasts. He leered up at her, blood trickling from his lip.

"What did I tell you about fighting me?" he grinned, his eyes sparking with excitement. "You're a stubborn one. You refuse to learn your lessons. I see that you're going to be a handful," he remarked and lowered her to her feet. "Consider this your first lesson, Kouchou. The first of many. I'll make sure of that," he smirked.

He knelt down in front of her on one knee and straightened her robes carefully back into place. He gently brushed her hair back and then swiped his thumb at the corner of her bruised and reddened lips where he had smeared her lip rouge. When he was done, he chucked her playfully under the chin.

"Lesson number one is the man is the master," he explained. "That is how God intended it. The sooner you understand that, the better it will be for you. A woman has her powers, and you, my dear, have them even before you're a woman. But ultimately, they exist for her master's use."

He stood up then, a massive man, strong, handsome, noble, and the first man Kouchou hated with every inch of her being. She understood for the first time in her life how deceitful and evil people could be, as she watched him blotting his handkerchief at his bloody lip.

Just then, the door opened, bumping Kouchou in the back and thrusting her forward. She whirled and stared wide-eyed at her mistress, who looked uncharacteristically upset. Instantly, Kouchou fell to the floor and touched her forehead at her lady's feet.

"Kouchou…" the lady muttered in shock. "Did you not hear the bell?"

"Oh, forgive her, my sweet," the general turned and beamed his most devastatingly handsome grin at her. "I'm afraid I tripped and hit my mouth. Damned clumsy of me. Kouchou-chan stopped to help heal my lips. You should be proud of her. She's a most thoughtful and considerate child."

The lady swept quickly into the room and closed the door behind her. She rushed past Kouchou's crouched form to tend to the general's wound.

"Oh, my dear, this house is cursed," she moaned. "I will be glad to be rid of it. I am so sorry for your injury," she simpered and pressed herself to his chest.

"There now," he patted her back. "It was my own fault. You know, I often barge into things when I should be more gingerly. Too much on the battlefield instead of the boudoir. Perhaps I will correct that when something more enticing awaits me in my bed."

Her mistress giggled sweetly, her laugh like airy chimes in a soft breeze. However, even at such a young age, Kouchou knew his words had double meaning, one intended for her mistress, the other for her.

"Shall I kiss your hurt away," the lady whispered softly.

"My sweet," he muttered.

Kouchou grimaced, hearing the sounds of their lips meeting behind her back. She touched her own lips, now knowing how his kiss felt. It disgusted her that he could kiss her lady, who loved him so, after just attacking her. Rage filled her so much, she shook with it.

"Kouchou-chan, come here, please," he called to her, and her eyes widened as she climbed to her feet. She called on all the skills she had learned from her mistress to marshal her emotions behind a mask of calm disinterest. She turned and came to stand next to her mistress. She glanced up to see the smirk on his face, as he noted that she purposely kept her distance from him.

"Thank you for your kindness to me, Kouchou-chan. You are a credit to this house and to your mistress," he said in a gentle voice. "I will be sure to inform the house mother."

"Master, she is a very good girl. Is she not growing up so beautifully," the lady rested a gentle arm on Kouchou's shoulder.

"She has a most attentive mistress. You've raised her well and encouraged her beauty to blossom. I hardly would've expected you to be talented at raising children as well, my dear. It pleases me," he touched the lady's cheek tenderly, and the woman bowed her head.

"Master, I beg your indulgence, but I fear for my dear Kouchou-chan here in this house," the lady raised sad eyes to the shogun.

"Oh?" he frowned.

"Already…she has been…approached…" she explained and stroked the young girl's hair.

"Has she?" he replied, and the dark sound of his voice drew Kouchou's eyes up to him. "I'll crush any man that looks at her the wrong way." She turned away in disgust when she saw jealousy cloud his expression.

"Master, I know I am but a whisper in your thoughts," her mistress simpered, clutching the shogun's hand firmly in both of hers, "but may it be possible to bring this dear child with us? She will be no trouble. She hardly eats and she works very hard. I should be so grateful."

Kouchou's head shot up to her mistress's face and then to the general's, whose lips curled up at one corner.

"A brilliant idea, my dearest," he growled with satisfaction. "And she may eat as much as she likes. She's a bit too skinny as it is. A man likes a full bosom and hips to get his hands around, no?" he teased the lady and squeezed her round rump, pulling her against him, as she giggled and hugged him tightly.

Kouchou wanted to retch. Her mind raced with what she could barely imagine lay in store for her once the shogun had her secluded in his home. She began to visibly tremble.

"Kouchou-chan!" the lady nudged her shoulder. "Thank Master for his generosity to you."

She bowed a little too forcefully and almost toppled over. He caught her shoulders and steadied her, kneeling before her.

"Ah, so formal, Kouchou-chan?" he smiled gently at her. "We're going to be family now. A close and loving family. Surely, a hug and kiss is not too much to ask?"

Kouchou's eyes shot up to her lady's and she caught an unsteady expression on the older woman's face. "It's all right, Kouchou. The master wishes it. He will be kind to you, so be a good girl."

Kouchou felt her stomach drop as she turned back to the handsome, dark and sinister face grinning with anticipation before her. He turned his cheek and tapped his face for the kiss.

She closed her eyes and steadied herself, leaning hesitantly toward him. Her mouth met rough, stubbled skin and quickly brushed it before drawing back. However, before she could move away, he gathered her in his arms and drew her softly against his broad chest in a warm hug.

"Now, that's not so bad, is it, Kouchou-chan?" he said at her ear. "Am I so scary? I'm a soldier, but I will be gentle to you."

She dug her nails into his arm where her lady couldn't see, but deep enough so he could feel it through his heavy uniform sleeve. He snickered against her ear.

"You hug very nicely, Kouchou-chan, for someone who doesn't like to hug," he drew back and smiled at her kindly. "Your lady likes my hugs, and you'll learn to like them too. I promise you."

He stood up and dropped a kiss on the lady's cheek, ruffled Kouchou's hair playfully and told them to pack Kouchou's things while he paid the house mother for their release, a tidy sum considering how much the house would lose without its prize courtesan and her protégé.

After he left the room, the lady dropped to her knees and gathered Kouchou in her arms. "My happiness is complete! Oh, Kouchou, my sweet girl, daughter of my heart! Is he not a wonderful master? He will grant us anything! I love him so, so much."

She hugged her again and when she drew back, Kouchou was shocked to see a tear course down her lady's pristine cheek.

"Ojou-sama!" she exclaimed, her lessons about emotional reserve running through her mind.

"I can't help it, Kouchou…I'm so happy that you will be coming with me. I was a little scared to go to his house alone, but now you will be with me. I will be as brave as you have always been. We will be so happy! Now, let us gather our things and be ready as soon as possible."

Kouchou hesitated for more than a few seconds, on the verge of blurting out the truth of the shogun's intentions, of his misgivings about her life as a courtesan, of his actions toward Kouchou. Yet, when she saw the lady's face, alight with joy, with hope, with denial of what the woman already suspected, she lowered her head.

"Yes, Ojou-sama," she closed her eyes and closed her heart forever.


	5. The Martyr

Kouchou had planned to take up a courtesan's life, to earn her keep as a woman of many masters, so that one day, she might be her own master. The shogun was handsome, could be kind and generous, made her feel womanly and promised to teach her how to please men. She would demand a much broader education, the finest upbringing—she would become the most gracious, courtly, intelligent and elegant woman in the country and she would earn it, just as her mistress did—with the only power a woman had.

For the first time in her life, she truly understood what it meant to be a courtesan, a prostitute, a harlot, to sell not only her body, but to strike a deal with the devil for her soul. So be it then. This was the life her mother had sold her into. This was the life her lady had wished for her.

As they walked together down the hallway to the lady's chambers, mentor and apprentice, like lovely swans gliding on a placid lake, Kouchou glanced up and caught the sidelong glance the older woman had slid toward her. The lady smiled at her. Her hand wrapped around Kouchou's and squeezed it reassuringly.

In the days and years to come, other such small comforts would come from the lady—a cool and soothing bath drawn and waiting after Kouchou's first painful night with her new master; an elegantly penned note on perfumed paper, applauding her courage, left beside Kouchou's dinner plate; a vial of powder to make master sleep when Kouchou could not bear to be with him, passed to her during a garden stroll; a serum that would prevent pregnancy that had been slipped into Kouchou's breakfast each day without her knowledge until she caught the lady and she confessed tearfully, begging forgiveness.

Four years passed this way, and the shogun's desire for Kouchou grew stronger as she matured to womanhood, rather than paling over time as she had hoped. The lady bore him twins and from that time, he never shared her bed again, instead, spending as many nights with Kouchou as the young woman would allow, which was not many.

Instead of his cowing Kouchou's spirit as he'd planned, it was he who had become tamed by her. It was she who taught him how powerful a woman could truly be. He worshipped her, loved her in his twisted manner and gave her anything and everything she wished.

In fact, he had showered her with treasures until he drove himself into debt. When he died suddenly one summer on the battlefield, and Kouchou and the lady were left to square away his affairs, they discovered that he had left them penniless. The lady, who truly grieved for the loss of the man who no longer loved her, became a shadow of herself, fearful of returning to the life she had escaped. She had aged, her beauty dimming, and she worried that even that door was closed to her now. And what of her children?

Kouchou smiled. The day, long delayed, had finally come for her to meet her destiny.

"Stay here, Ojou-sama. Raise my brothers as you raised me—with loving words and gentle kindness," she touched the faded cheek of the former number one courtesan in the country. "I will find the means."

"Kouchou-chan," she muttered and hugged the young woman to her.

"I must go away from here, though," she explained. "I don't wish our neighbors to know what has become of us. They will remember the shogun with pride, as will you and the boys," she said with a wry smile. She rose and walked with squared shoulders, back straight, head up, toward the door.

"Kouchou," the lady called to her, and the young woman turned to her at the door. Sunlight from the window poured in across her face and she glowed, her white skin and her red lips shining in the soft light.

The lady drew in her breath sharply. A queen stood before her, smiling with confidence.

"How will you remember the shogun?" she asked, almost apologetically.

Kouchou thought for a moment, glanced around the beautiful home of finery and elegance that had held them in palatial comfort, and without want of anything. Out the window, she noticed the two boys, miniatures of the shogun, playing war out in the garden. Last, her eyes fell on the lady, swathed in silk gowns and jewels.

"I will remember him as a man, Ojou-sama. That's all. Just a man," she grinned and swept out the door.


	6. The Master

Morning sun spilled across the ornate carpet in Kouchou's chamber, and she breathed in the soft, dewy air, her body still light and tingling from her long night in Shuuei's arms. When his lips moved across her bare shoulder, a slow, sultry smile curled her lips.

"Now that's a sight for a man to wake to," he whispered against her skin.

"Shogun-sama, do you never tire?" she teased, chuckling at him, and leaned back against his chest, his robes draped over him, but not bound.

He growled and wrapped his arms around her to cup her breasts. "Not if you're going to sit here naked in the morning light," he assured her, nibbling at her back and stroking his fingers slowly, lower and lower on her body. "Turn around, Kouchou. I want breakfast," he murmured at her ear, and she gasped and writhed against him.

She glanced over her shoulder as he knelt back on the floor. She smiled and then swung around toward him, pinching her knees together tightly. She stretched her foot forward to slide it up between his thighs, until she found the evidence of his desire. She moved her foot languidly.

"I can send to the kitchen for something sweet and sticky, Ran-sa-ma…." she pushed open his robe with her foot and glanced down at him.

"Sweet and sticky sounds delicious, but what I want is much closer than in the kitchen," he stated and kissed his way slowly up her leg, crawling across the floor closer to her with each touch of his lips. His hands caressed her thighs and he spread them open as his mouth swirled over the soft flesh between them.

A gentle tap at the door stopped neither his teasing tongue, nor the crawl of her fingers through his long, black hair. The knock became more insistent.

"Kouchou-nee-san," a soft voice called.

Kouchou sighed impatiently and then gasped when Shuuei pushed her thighs open wider and continued his feast.

"Shogun-sama!" she exclaimed in a shocked voice and then laughed, tossing her head back. The knock came again.

"What is it?!" she shouted angrily and gasped loudly when Shuuei's fingers joined his mouth in pleasuring her to distraction.

"Pardon the interruption, Kouchou-nee-san. Ran-shogun has an urgent message," the voice called back.

He paused for a moment, but only a moment before he continued, now more insistently, making Kouchou squirm on her seat. He lifted her legs over his shoulders and she fell back against the vanity table, bracing her elbows against it.

"Uhhhn, uuhhh…Ran-sama…" she moaned and whimpered, writhing breathlessly.

"Kouchou-nee-san…the message is from Koku-daishogun," the voice called through the door urgently.

Kouchou barely heard it over her own climaxing cries of ecstasy. When she descended back to earth from the heavenly sphere he had lifted her to, she felt his mouth moving gently over her stomach, his tongue teasing her navel.

She leaned down and tipped his face up to kiss him deeply. They both turned in surprise when the door opened slightly.

"Forgive me, Kouchou-nee-san," the soft voice trembled through the sliver of an opening. "The daishogun threatened to break in if the shogun does not return to the barracks immediately."

Shuuei sighed and grumbled. "Thank you. Send word that I'm on my way, please," he called to the maid at the door. The door closed. "That grumpy bastard," Shuuei groaned. "I'd better get going."

"Well, perhaps I might have recovered by the next time you visit," she stroked her fingers across his chin.

He drew her down into his arms and kissed her until she was breathless and gasping.

"I love you, Kouchou," he told her, his voice deep and husky, his brows drawn together. He searched her emerald eyes, but he found the same cool glint that always looked back at him. He smiled wryly and let her go with a playful chuck under her chin.

After he'd dressed and bound up his hair, looking more like a shogun than a lover, he lifted her hand to his mouth for a soft kiss, then turned it over and placed a heavy pouch on her palm.

"Amends to the house for my greed," he stated with a smirk.

"A little more than generous, Ran-sama," she commented, hefting the pouch and raising her eyebrows.

"Well, I must keep the management happy if I'm going to receive special privileges," he winked at her.

"Have no doubt that the management is quite satisfied with you," she murmured and placed a lingering kiss on his lips.

"This is for you…only you," he added and folded another pouch into her other hand. "For some day."

"Some day, Ran-sama?" she glanced down at the pouch and then back up at his troubled face.

"I…I wish…" he stammered awkwardly and placed his hands over hers, clenched around the pouches full of gold. "I want to…to give you…more."

"Shogun, you already give me all that a man can," she stated. "There's nothing more I want."

"Nothing, Kouchou?" he cupped her chin and searched her impenetrably lovely face.

"Not a thing," she assured him unwaveringly.

He smiled wistfully. "Well, then," he released her chin. "Until next time?"

"I'll dream of you until then," she purred sweetly. He smirked and turned away, marching out the door.

She stared at the closed door for several minutes and then drew an oddly shuddering breath into her lungs. She turned back to her vanity and dropped the pouches on the table, resuming her seat and her preparations for the day. As she poised a rouge brush at her lips, it trembled so much that it dropped from her fingers.

Suddenly, a wracking sob thundered up from her lungs, and she collapsed down over the sea of bottles and pots that made up the mask she hid behind. Her shoulders convulsed uncontrollably as she wept bitter, aching tears, and she swept her arm across the table, sending everything crashing to the floor. Her fists clenched so tightly, her knuckles showed white through her skin.

As quickly as the outburst came, she stifled it and breathed deeply to clear her thoughts of anything to do with the troublesome shogun. She reached down and found her box of powder and the only pot of rouge unbroken. After a few minutes, the white powder hid her reddened nose and cheeks and she blotted the red rouge on her lips. She leaned down and scooped up one of the pouches of gold coins and set it on the table in front of her. She fondled it affectionately and then fished out a sheet of paper and a brush from her vanity.

"Dear Ojou-sama," she recited as she wrote. "I hope you are feeling better since your last letter. Of course, I will find a suitable place for the boys while they're here to sit for exams. The pouch I'm sending with this letter should cover their travel costs, so please don't spare any expense…"

She glanced up at her reflection in the mirror. She pressed her hand to her milky white cheek and a soft smile curled her red lips.

She had everything she wanted, she reminded herself, thinking of another shogun. She had everything that mattered.

-End-


End file.
